Portland loves Cirque du Soleil, and the Montreal-based company knows it. "Totem," which opens an extended run on March 27 at the Portland Expo Center, marks the 8th time Cirque has brought one of its big-tent shows here since 2000, roughly coming every two years. Here's how the other shows stacked up.

"Saltimbanco"(2000): Cirque's first Portland engagement featured themes of family and hope. Among the standout performers were a juggler, bungee cord dancers, twin musclemen and a vocally shape-shifting clown who staged an elaborate bit with one lucky member of the audience. The performances were held on the South Waterfront along the Willamette River, where Cirque would stage its productions until development forced them to the Expo Center in North Portland in 2012. Grade: B

"Dralion"(2002): The elements of fire, air, wind and earth took center stage with this Asian-themed outing. But with 37 Chinese acrobats in the 55-member troupe, it felt back-flip heavy. Soon after the show opened, a thief walked off with some of its elaborate costumes, including a coat made of thousands of white feathers. But the show must go on and it did, for six sold-out weeks. An arena-sized adaptation of the show returned to the Rose Garden in 2011 with a slightly modified lineup. Grade: B-

"Alegria"(2003): This was the first show here that incorporated Old World circus sensibilities with Cirque's signature New Age aesthetic. With energetic acrobats, a Russian high-bar act and a Mongolian contortionist, the performers stretched the boundaries of what the human body can do. The show's distinctly melancholy clowns lent warmth to the act, particularly in a breathtaking sequence that turned the big top into a blizzard of white confetti. Grade: A-

"Varekai"(2006): Hands down the best of the tent shows that have played Portland. Exploring the beauty of flight, the show took viewers on a journey through a forest filled with fireflies, hissing Gila monsters and stunningly feathered bird characters. Most memorable among them were twin aerialists who catapulted their lean bodies over the audience while holding onto thin fabric straps. It was at once terrifying and beautiful, with the two performers cascading perilously over the stage. "Varekai" set the bar for how good a touring Cirque show can be. Grade: A

Note: Parking at the Expo Center is $8. TriMet's MAX Yellow Line terminates at the Expo Center, and is recommended to avoid traffic.

"Corteo"(2008): Unlike other Cirque ventures, which have the loosest of themes, this show had a plot, and dialogue, about a deceased clown whose spirit is heading toward the gates of heaven. The show's dreamlike feel and old-fashioned acts (a person playing musical water glasses, a whistler, a gag with a rubber chicken) showed some restraint, though there was a zany segment with acrobats jumping around huge trampoline-like beds. Grade: B

"Kooza" (2010): Cirque updated Old World circus traditions with modern technical wizardry in this lighthearted show, featuring complex routines such as the "Wheel of Death," a daredevil performance on a gravity-defying apparatus. The show culminated with a Chinese gymnast building a 20-foot tower of stacked chairs, then balancing on top of them with a single hand. If the Wheel of Death was the show's fireworks explosion, the chairs act was its intense soliloquy. Grade: B+

"Ovo"(2012): Cirque takes a tropical turn with this rainforest-inspired show about bugs, featuring acrobats and aerial performers becoming ants, crickets, cockroaches, spiders and beetles. The mood of the show is light and whimsical, as the bugs hunt for food, fly around and look for love. There's even a flirty ladybug to set hearts aflutter. It's easily the brightest and most family-friendly of Cirque's shows to play here, and its jazz and samba-fueled score is among the most-unusual in the company's repertoire. Grade: B